Rhythm and tempo
#music/rhythm · Note 7 of 9 · part of Guitar
Wrong notes in time sound like a choice. Right notes out of time sound like a mistake. Rhythm is the half that gets neglected.
Tempo is beats per minute
BPM — how many beats fit in a minute. 60 BPM is one beat a second.
The Italian words are ranges, not precise values:
| Marking | BPM | Feel |
|---|---|---|
| Largo | 40–60 | very slow |
| Adagio | 66–76 | slow |
| Andante | 76–108 | walking pace |
| Moderato | 108–120 | moderate |
| Allegro | 120–156 | brisk |
| Presto | 168–200 | fast |
Most songs live between 70 and 140. A metronome is not optional equipment.
Note values
Each is half the one before:
| Note | British name | Beats in 4/4 |
|---|---|---|
| 𝅝 whole | semibreve | 4 |
| 𝅗𝅥 half | minim | 2 |
| ♩ quarter | crotchet | 1 |
| ♪ eighth | quaver | ½ |
| 𝅘𝅥𝅯 sixteenth | semiquaver | ¼ |
A dot adds half the note's own value again: a dotted half = 3 beats. A tie joins two notes into one longer sound across a bar line.
Time signatures
Written as a fraction at the start of the staff:
- top number — beats in a bar
- bottom number — which note value gets one beat (4 = quarter, 8 = eighth)
| Signature | Beats | Count | Where you hear it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4/4 | 4 quarters | 1 2 3 4 | almost everything |
| 3/4 | 3 quarters | 1 2 3 | waltz |
| 6/8 | 6 eighths | 1 2 3 4 5 6 | felt in two, lilting |
| 2/4 | 2 quarters | 1 2 | marches |
| 5/4 | 5 quarters | 1 2 3 4 5 | odd, deliberate |
4/4 is so common it is written C on the staff — for common time, not for C.
The same idea in taal
Hindustani music counts in taal, cycles of matras (beats) grouped into vibhags (sections). The sam is beat one — the point everything resolves to.
| Taal | Matras | Grouping |
|---|---|---|
| Teentaal | 16 | 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 |
| Keherwa | 8 | 4 + 4 |
| Dadra | 6 | 3 + 3 |
| Ektaal | 12 | 2+2+2+2+2+2 |
| Jhaptaal | 10 | 2 + 3 + 2 + 3 |
Keherwa maps cleanly onto 4/4, Dadra onto 6/8. Teentaal is four bars of 4/4 — but the emphasis differs: Western 4/4 stresses beats 1 and 3, while a taal cycle points everything at the sam.
Jhaptaal's 2+3+2+3 has no comfortable Western equivalent, which is a good reminder that the mapping is a convenience, not an identity.
Strumming, written down
D = down, U = up. Count "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and", downs on the numbers, ups on the "and".
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
D D U U D U
← the one that fits most songs
D U D U D U D U
← constant eighths
D D D D
← quarters, for learning changes
Keep the hand moving continuously even when not striking. The pattern comes from which strokes you miss, not from starting and stopping — that is the single thing that makes strumming sound relaxed instead of stiff.
How to practise with a metronome
- Set it slower than feels necessary. 60 BPM.
- Play until four bars are perfectly clean.
- Raise by 5 BPM.
- When it falls apart, drop 10 and stay there.
Speed built this way holds up. Speed rushed does not.
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